Lewis to Tour Philippines with AIA
Jul 02 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers University senior center Greg Lewis (Baltimore, Md.) will compete with Division I players from across the United States on a two-week competitive tour of the Philippines this summer with Athletes in Action (AIA). The team will gather in Dayton, Ohio for a four-day training camp before heading overseas on July 29 to play eight games over a 12-day span.
"It's going to be a great trip and I'm really excited about it," said Lewis. "I'm looking forward to playing against different teams and gaining experience. It's going to help develop my leadership, which is always important, especially with the young guys that we have coming in this year."
"This is tremendous for Greg," said Rutgers head coach Eddie Jordan. "Not only will it help in his basketball development, but it's also an opportunity for him to give back. He's a terrific representative for our program."
Among those playing on the team are TK Edogi and D'Andre Wright (Tulsa), Eric Garcia (Wofford), Chris Hass (Bucknell), Javis Howard (Charleston Southern), Tyler Lewis (Butler), Tyrell Nelson (Gardner-Webb), Winston Shepard (San Diego State) and Andre Yates (Cleveland State).
Morris Michalski, veteran AIA Coach, heads the leadership team that includes Phil Bollier (AIA), Phil Gillespie (Michigan State AIA), Donte Hill (NBL Japan) and Claude Pardue (Georgia State).
Concurrent with the games, AIA basketball camps for kids and AIA basketball clinics for coaches will be held. Children's hospital and orphanage visits are slated. Compassionate aid (shoes, sports equipment, medical supplies, games and food) for the needy will be brought as well. The goals of the tour include providing a rich cross-cultural experience for each team member, loving and serving all the people the team meets, bringing worthy competition to some of the best teams in Asia, and spreading the AIA movement more deeply across the country.
An added bonus will be teaming up with world-champion boxer Manny Pacquiao to accomplish these stated goals.
"We fully expect the personal growth and cultural exchange to be rich and life-changing," stated Michalski. "We are looking for victories both in and beyond competition and pray that we will receive them. This will be a whirlwind experience that I believe everyone on our team will embrace with arms wide open. The tour is looking for great battles to fight, great adventures to live, and great opportunities for personal growth, making better men not just better players."
The team is slated to play an array of teams that includes the country's top four collegiate powerhouses, as well as several professional teams from the country's formidable Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Fans can follow the team's tour blog here.
